It’s been a few months since I last posted. Been great to work on publications for Premium Publishers, Perth; the superb Ocean Magazine in Sydney; and the very groovy Fitness First mag/website, also based in Sydney.

Some fun stuff for Marque, the BMW magazine, includes a piece on one of the last pulp publishers, headphones, rum, gin (hey, a lot of alcohol here), the sensational motorbike-crossed-with-gymnastics sport of X Trial – and watches of course.

In a few weeks I’ll be on deck as part of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games News Service – the 14th major sporting event, including London and Beijing Olympic Games, that I’ve worked from “inside the tent”.

AS I enter my ninth year running The Write Stuff Media it is a challenging media landscape out there.

Luckily I’ve got some good outlets such as Marque, the BMW Magazine, the new Broome Guide, Ocean Magazine over in Sydney and Perth real estate/lifestyle mag PRIMOLife to keep things ticking over.

I’ve contributed a fair bit to the most recent MQ; stories on horse racing around the globe, globes themselves, watches and some groovy new products on the Australian drinks scene, Margaret River Pisco and Vantage spirit. It was also great to talk to New Mexico-based photographer Brad Wilson, who shoots amazing animal portraits (see below)

First, great to have lots of opportunities with publications such as Ocean Magazine, Box, PRIMOLife, MQ Magazine covering subjects from sports, to travel, to food, to snake wrangling!

And it’s great to say that the book I helped put together, Sarogini’s Sri Lanka Food, is now a total sell-out. Stay tuned for news of a reprint…

But the Four Wallas (myself, Sarogini, Craig Kinder and Cally Browning) haven’t been resting on our laurels – we’ve just returned from an amazing trip to Kerala, India, for material for a NEW cookbook. We visited amazing fish markets, the high mountain tea plantations and the steamy, spice-rich coastal regions of what is a crazy, fascinating state.

As for the food? Think dazzling, fresh, piquant coconut-flavoured curries and more…

Our plans are now – err – cooking for a great new book based on this fabulous cuisine.

Trips to Switzerland (twice) for big watch shows; trips to China and New York to get prizes for the great book I helped produce, Sarogini’s Sri Lanka Food…

Trips to Belgium and Ireland for more work for the book; then a few weeks in “sunny” Scotland for the Commonwealth Games where I learned a LOT about swimming and diving. (and avoided haggis).

It was back home for a few hours and then off to steamy Nanjing China for the Youth Olympic Games….China put on quite a show.

Shame though the air quality in China is so poor….we certainly have it lucky in little old Perth.

Some great work too with Primo Life, Marque, Box, Fitness First and Ocean magazines…

And soon it will be time to ramp up the work for Wat.ch Annual 2015.

I’ve taken my camera pretty much everywhere I’ve been, so here are a couple of favourite pictures from Nanjing – this is wushu in action; the girl in the red is from Perth. The boats are on the river at Fuxi Miao, central Nanjing.

Enjoy!

Norman Burns

www.thewritestuffmedia.com

]]>https://thewritestuffmedia.com/cookbooks-swimming-haggis-china-and-smog/feed/0Too much time on my hands…https://thewritestuffmedia.com/too-much-time-on-my-hands/
https://thewritestuffmedia.com/too-much-time-on-my-hands/#respondSun, 30 Mar 2014 04:44:51 +0000http://thewritestuffmedia.com/?p=290Well, not in the wasteful sense!

Just completed a whirlwind trip to the Baselworld Watch Fair and been blown away by the range and imagination of what’s out there.

And then topped off by rubbing shoulders (albeit briefly) with football legends Robert Pires (JeanRichard for Arsenal) and Man U’s Denis Irwin and Peter Schmeichel (Bulova)…

And could it get any better? Yes, with a one-on-one interview with Test Pilot and astronaut-in-waiting Harry Van Hulten who will be behind the “wheel” of the Lynx spaceship, a reusable rocket plane that will carry cargo or paying tourists into space from the Caribbean island of Curacao.

A measly $100,000 will get you a ride (subject to health and psychological checks into space and Lynx is planned to make 4 trips a day. Swiss watch brand Luminox is along for the ride…

As a lifelong space enthusiast (err nut) meeting Harry was a real treat and he is a very affable guy to boot – 16 years in the Dutch Air Force, a true Top Gun flying and testing F16 fighters. Too cool…

It was great to bring the beautiful new mag I edited and wrote for, Wat.ch, up to the show and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The magazine’s size and format is unique – and not just in Australia.

Time now to head home (not via the Lynx alas – it could make the 14000km in around 90 minutes flying at 100km above the atmosphere).

So plenty to write about for Wat.ch 2015!

All the best

Norman

PS This a pic of one space fanatic and a Dutch Test Pilot…only one, alas, is going to be flying the Lynx into space…

First, the management and staff of thewritestuffmedia.com (err, that would be me) wish everyone a great, safe and happy festive season.
And now for a shameless plug – if you are looking for a great post-Christmas present, why not buy someone a copy of the great new magazine Wat.ch that I have edited/written for… the Wat.ch team (Crystal, Tineke, Troy, Marnie, Sophia and Andrew especially) have done an amazing job getting this together.
The cover blows away any other magazine on watches I have seen and inside are 328 pages of informative, fun content with some great visuals – check out the spectacular photo shoot (and not necessarily the watches).
I, and my fellow “Wallas”, are also hot on the marketing/sales trail for our great new book Sarogini’s Sri Lanka Food, which is garnering some fantastic feedback (pun intended).
Delicious food and fantastic watches – what more could you want?!

Till next time
Norman Burns

]]>https://thewritestuffmedia.com/ti-me-to-say-merry-christmas/feed/0Time on my hands…https://thewritestuffmedia.com/time-on-my-hands/
https://thewritestuffmedia.com/time-on-my-hands/#respondTue, 10 Dec 2013 05:29:47 +0000http://thewritestuffmedia.com/?p=277Well, not really as I’ve been flat out like a lizard drinking on editing/content for a great new 300-plus page magazine, Wat.ch Annual.
It’s from the same stable as Box Magazine, except this is going to be in a bigger square format.
I’ve written articles on dive watches, aviation watches, vintage watches and more, plus we feature more than 70 brands and their latest, greatest, timepieces.
Check out the cool masthead…
]]>https://thewritestuffmedia.com/time-on-my-hands/feed/0Right time, right place…https://thewritestuffmedia.com/right-time-right-place/
https://thewritestuffmedia.com/right-time-right-place/#respondThu, 05 Dec 2013 06:17:00 +0000http://thewritestuffmedia.com/?p=272Sometimes you get lucky by being in the right place, right time – and have a camera at your side.
In New Zealand earlier this year,I snapped this image overlooking Lake Wakatipu.
The view is towards the tiny hamlet of Glenorchy, location for much of the filming for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.
A lot of people have said “great shot”… and then I came across the Sony World Photography awards, which has a Panorama section.
I’ve entered the pic in the awards, which are judged early next year.
No tricks with this one – it was my trusty Pentax J1’s “auto setting”
Will I win? Who knows, there are thousands of entries. But I think Mother Nature put on quite a show, don’t you agree?

]]>https://thewritestuffmedia.com/right-time-right-place/feed/0Cookin’ up a stormhttps://thewritestuffmedia.com/cookin-up-a-storm/
https://thewritestuffmedia.com/cookin-up-a-storm/#respondMon, 02 Dec 2013 10:11:52 +0000http://thewritestuffmedia.com/?p=269Hi there
Well, they say good things come to all those who wait…and the proof is in the new book I, and three colleagues, have now published.
Sarogini’s Sri Lanka Food (see www.srilankafood.net for ordering details) is now a reality, after a three-year gestation!
Our media/marketing launch was held in Perth last week at Craig Kinder’s F22 studio and it was, if I say so myself, an outstanding success.
Lots of great positive feedback (and orders!) and it was great to see the Honorary Sri Lanka Consul to WA, Mr Frank Crawley and his wife Sue, make time in their busy pre-Christmas schedule to attend.
We (photographer Craig Kinder, designer Cally Browning (www.barecreative.com.au) and cooking expert Sarogini Kamalanathan) self-published under the Four Wallas Partnership banner – Four Wallas? Buy the book to find out what that is all about
So if you are looking for a great Christmas present, or just a cool gift for the foodie friend, Sarogini’s Sri Lanka Food is 188 pages packed full of superb easy-to-prepare recipes.
The writestuffmedia.com – ie me – has also been flat out preparing material for new 300-page glossy magazine, Wat.ch Annual, aimed at watch fans in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand.
It’s an annual and is a great guide to what’s available out there for watch buyers; I also take a look at the cool collectable vintage market and there are some pretty spectacular photo shoots (where the attention may not be solely on the timepieces).
2014 is on the horizon and it could be a big year for www.thewritestuffmedia with possible gigs at the Youth Olympic Games, Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and watch exhibitions in Geneva in January and Basel in March.

]]>https://thewritestuffmedia.com/cookin-up-a-storm/feed/0New frontiershttps://thewritestuffmedia.com/new-frontiers/
https://thewritestuffmedia.com/new-frontiers/#respondSun, 15 Sep 2013 13:42:48 +0000http://thewritestuffmedia.com/?p=260Hi
Well, as Voyager 1 – at 10 miles a second – leaves the heliosphere (the influence of the Sun) and heads off into interstellar space, so it is time for new frontiers at www.thewritestuffmedia.com
Firstly I’m proud to be involved as editor/writer/co-ordinator with a great new publication, Wat.ch Annual, out of the Box Magazine stable.
Aiming for a pre-Christmas launch throughout Australia for this one!
Also, and it’s taken a while, the great new cookbook I’ve been helping get off the ground – Sarogini’s Sri Lankan Food – is at the printer.
Looking forward to launching this and getting out to the world before Christmas.
And last, but by no means least, the superbly talented Matt Leigh has tweaked my write stuff logo and come up with a fantastic design that will, soon, grace my biz cards and more.
So, as Al Shepard memorably said, let’s light this candle!